Hillgrove Headed to Newnan for Semis
The Hawks will move into the state championship round with two victories in the best-of-three series.
Senior shortstop Eric Baguley put an end to the celebrations and back-slapping and signaled that his team was getting back to work. From his Twitter account last Wednesday, after Hillgrove came from behind to beat Mill Creek in the GHSA AAAAA State Baseball Quarterfinals, he simply stated: "Newnan here we come!"
The Hawks will travel to Newnan High School today to take on the Cougars, who breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs before they needed three games to overcome Brookwood.
Newnan swept Kennesaw Mountain by an average of six and a half runs per game and swept Lowndes by an average of four runs per game. Newnan’s quarterfinal series against Brookwood was an epic battle, just as Hillgrove’s.
Newnan and Hillgrove have not played each other this season, but they do have three common opponents: Brookwood, Kennesaw Mountain and Westlake.
Hillgrove lost to Brookwood, 2-0, in March while Newnan beat them in its quarterfinal series 2-1, winning 7-6 and 7-5 and losing 9-1.
Both Newnan and Hillgrove beat Kennesaw Mountain twice this season. Newnan won 10-5 and 8-0. Hillgrove beat the Mustangs 12-4 and 15-0.
Westlake is the final common opponent, with Newnan and Hillgrove both having two wins. Newnan defeated Westlake 13-1 and 10-3, while Hillgrove won 15-5 and 14-0.
The semifinals are a best-of-three series. If the teams split today's games—scheduled for 4 and 6:30 p.m.—a deciding Game 3 will be played Tuesday.
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Michael Jacobs
6:56 pm on Monday, May 23, 2011
Hillgrove wins Game 1, 8-6, and is one win from the state finals.
Michael Jacobs
9:54 pm on Monday, May 23, 2011
Hillgrove wins Game 2, 8-0, and the Hawks are on to the championship series.